Foreign Secretary slammed after gay fans told to ‘be less queer’ at Qatar World Cup – msnNOW
© AP/Darko Bandic Doha prepares to host the World Cup – No 10 slaps down Foreign Secretary for telling football fans ‘to be less queer’ at Qatar World Cup – AP/Darko Bandic
Downing Street has been forced to slap down the Foreign Secretary on the Prime Minister’s first full day in office after James Cleverly was accused of telling gay fans travelling to the World Cup in Qatar to “be less queer”.
James Cleverly provoked a furious backlash after warning LGBT supporters needed to “compromise” and be “respectful of the host nation” during the tournament held in a country where homosexuals can face the death penalty.
His comments, made the morning after Rishi Sunak’s appointment as Prime Minister, drew a withering response from a Number 10 spokesman, who said of gay fans: “We wouldn’t expect them to compromise who they are and you’ll know the UK has very clear rules around this.
“Qatar’s policies are not those of the UK government and not ones that we would endorse.”
Cleverly, who Sunak kept on as Foreign Secretary, made the remarks during an interview with LBC in the wake of Peter Tatchell’s one-man protest in Qatar which the LGBT activist said had led to his arrest over a banner that read: “Qatar arrests, jails & subjects LGBTs to ‘conversion’. #QatarAntiGay.”
Cleverly said: “I have spoken to the Qatari authorities in the past about gay football fans going to watch the World Cup and how they will treat our fans and international fans. They want to make sure that football fans are safe, secure and enjoy themselves, and they know that that means they are going to have to make some compromises in terms of what is an Islamic country with a very different set of cultural norms to our own.
“One of the things I would say for football fans is, you know, please do be respectful of the host nation. They are trying to ensure that people can be themselves and enjoy the football, and I think with a little bit of flex and compromise at both ends, it can be a safe, secure and exciting World Cup.”
England LGBT fan group 3Lionspride posted on Twitter: “With respect, this is an extremely unhelpful intervention that shows a lack of understanding and context. To insinuate that an acceptable and proportionate safety measure is to ‘be less queer’ forces us back into the closet and risks mental health crises.
“For a UK minister to step in and endorse it as a legitimate aim undermines our work and our conversations. *AND* that’s before we even get on to the situation for LGBT+ Qataris who under Penal Code 2004 can be arrested, and under Sharia Law can face the death penalty.
“In conclusion, this statement is contradictory (‘ensuring people can be themselves’ by being less themselves), disregards the voices & experiences of LGBT+ Qataris, speaks over LGBT+ fans & plays into the fractioning of us as either ‘tolerable’ queers or ones who are too much.”
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker wrote: “Whatever you do, don’t do anything Gay. Is that the message?”
Tatchell added: “It is appalling that Mr Cleverley is urging fans to be respectful of the host nation, rather than calling out the regime over its repression.”
© Provided by The Telegraph Peter Tatchell protests against Qatar’s treatment of LGBT citizens – No 10 slaps down Foreign Secretary for telling football fans ‘to be less queer’ at Qatar World Cup – Peter Tatchell
Lucy Powell, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said: “This is shockingly tone deaf from James Cleverly. Sport should be open to all. Many fans will feel they can’t attend this tournament to cheer on their team because of Qatar’s record on human, workers, and LGBT+ rights.
“The Government should be challenging Fifa on how they’ve put fans in this position, and ensuring the full safety of all fans attending, not defending discriminatory values.”
Cleverly was also denounced for confirming he planned to attend the World Cup after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer signalled he would not do so.
“If I am able to go, I should go because it is a major international event. There’ll be lots of my international interlocutors there and also there’ll be a whole load of Brits overseas.”
Tatchell said: “James Cleverly must speak out against the appalling human rights abuses by the Qatari regime. If he goes to Qatar, Mr Cleverly will be colluding with the dictatorship and helping Qatar achieve its goal of sports washing its appalling record.
“He should be encouraging all fans to boycott the World Cup and to use their social media to amplify the shocking human rights violations by the Qatari state. Any fans or public figures who go to the World Cup will be colluding with a homophobic, sexist and racist regime.
“LGBT+ fans may not be safe. The assurances of the Qatari authorities are highly questionable. They have flip-flopped over rainbow flags in the stadium.”
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said: “We’d like the Foreign Secretary to be taking a firmer line than this, and actually call on the Qatari authorities to ensure that no-one is discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that all LGBT people – residents or visitors – have their rights fully protected both now and after the World Cup.
“We’d like to hear James Cleverly unequivocally urging the Qatari authorities to repeal their anti-LGBT laws, as well as offering his support for the creation of a FIFA-backed compensation fund for Qatar’s abused migrant workers and full and proper implementation of Qatar’s patchily-enforced labour laws.”
Cleverly’s comments came less than a fortnight since he declared he would “absolutely support” Harry Kane, Gareth Bale and other team captains wearing ‘One Love’ armbands during the World Cup.
That was after the hosts’ chief executive of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Nasser Al Khater, spoke out against the tournament becoming a “platform of political statements”.
Al Khater did say fans were welcome to display rainbow flags at the World Cup and that gay supporters would be free to hold hands in public.
He told Sky News: “At the end of the day, as long as you don’t do anything that harms other people, if you’re not destroying public property, as long as you’re behaving in a way that’s not harmful, then everybody’s welcome and you have nothing to worry about.”